Etymology

long firm

Today it means: A company of swindlers who obtain goods on pretence of being established in business, and then decamp without payment to do the same elsewhere. Full definition →

Old English gelang ← Italian firma
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The story

  1. Italian · borrowed fromfirma“signature”
  2. Old English · inherited fromgelang“fraudulent”
  3. English todaylong firm

* Perhaps from the idea that such a firm (company) would claim to have been established for a long time. * Perhaps from Old English gelang (“fraudulent”) and Italian firma (“signature”).

Words from the same roots

Italianfirma all →

firm

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.